Over 200 patients underwent surgery for morbid obesity at cost of €3.2m in 2024
Darragh Mc Donagh
More than 200 people underwent surgery for the treatment of morbid obesity in public hospitals at a cost of almost €3.2 million during 2024, new figures have revealed.
The operations, which cost an average of over €15,200 each, are designed to encourage weight loss by surgically altering the digestion process or by reducing the size of a patient’s stomach.
Some of the patients underwent gastric bypasses, which redirect food away from parts of the stomach and small intestine so they absorb fewer calories.
Others underwent gastric banding, which involves a band being placed around the upper part of the stomach to reduce its capacity so the patient feels full after eating smaller quantities of food.
The procedures, which are collectively known as bariatric surgery, also include the insertion of gastric balloons, which are inflated in the stomach to take up space and physically limit the volume of food that can be consumed.
Records released by the Health Service Executive (HSE) under the Freedom of Information Act show that 208 people underwent bariatric surgery in public hospitals during 2024 at a cost of €3,163,243.
The procedures are carried out almost exclusively at University Hospital Galway (UHG) and St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.
Associated services are also provided at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork.
Ireland has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe, according to the HSE website, with 60 per cent of adults and one in five children or young people overweight or obese.
Patients can be considered for weight-loss operations if they satisfy a number of criteria, such as having a BMI (body mass index) of over 40. Individuals with lower BMIs can also be considered if they have other conditions.
“While a definite clinical need exists for those with chronic obesity, bariatric surgery is only required for the minority of obese patients – two percent of the population,” according to the HSE.
“The vast majority of these patients require clinical treatment that is both hospital- and community-based as indicated by the HSE-ICGP Weight Management Treatment Algorithm, the clinical care pathway utilised by healthcare professionals.”
Candidates are typically required to have made lifestyle changes and tried weight-loss medication before resorting to bariatric surgery.
Those who successfully complete a weight-management programme may be referred to a participating hospital.
However, a person can be deemed unsuitable for bariatric surgery if the medical team observes “contra indications” during the weight-management programme. Instead, they may be referred for a period of inpatient weight management, depending on the availability of a bed.
The number of people who underwent surgery for morbid obesity in 2024 represented a decrease of 35 per cent compared to the previous year, though the total cost of the procedures fell by less than 10 per cent.
In 2023, 320 people underwent bariatric surgery at a cost of nearly €3.5 million. This was almost double the 171 people who went under the knife for morbid obesity in 2022 at a cost of €1.8 million.
